Browns

A new year, a new plan.

2010-01-18T13:35:00.001-04:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted on here, but life's been busy. Beth was away to Winnipeg recently, and I've been planning a trip to Washington D.C. for the March for Life, I leave in two days. Not to mention Christmas and job searches (to no avail...) and university plans. Actually, I really don't understand that cliche, the whole "not to mention" thing... because I actually did mention it... Anyway, I'm getting off track, and my writing skills really are suffering lately, I should probably pick it up.

Things are really starting to pan out now. We've got a solid idea and I think we're good to run with it.

Beth has some excellent connections all over the place what with her NET skills, and we have places to stay everywhere. So as of right now, a tentative schedule is forming in my mind.

8th of March, I bus it over to the Halifax airport, meeting Beth there. We fly from Hali to London overnight.
9th of March, rest and relaxation, staying with Beth's friend Robert.
10th, 11th, and 12th, staying in London, doing some touring of all the major hotspots. Maybe chill with the Beatles a bit.
13th, catch a Ryanair flight to Dublin, meeting tour operator of Irish Jaunt.
13th to 18th, Irish Jaunt tour of Ireland.
18th, dropped off in Shannon. Head on bus to Athenry to stay with NET team there.
19th, until 28th, free to roam about Ireland as we please. Staying with Beth's connections all along the way... ? In Donegal, Dublin, Athenry and Galway I do believe are the places we have people to stay with. Not sure though.
29th, we may have to head back to London to catch our return flight to Halifax. Maybe I will end up staying at Beth's house for a night before getting a bus or my father to pick me up and head back to PEI.

SO as far as a tentative schedule goes, that's not too bad right? Okay. Now to do the money side of things.

Dealz

2009-11-11T16:07:00.000-04:00

Sceptre Tours off season deal:

The actual tour

The article on it

British Airways slashes Europe prices:

Goes around 700 bucks to London from Toronto.

The facebook message about this:
OKAY.

So Sceptre Tours has this like amazing deal where it's about 700 dollars airfare plus 6 nights stay and touring and stuff.

But it's based on 4 people.

Now my mom mentioned that her and dad would love to go to Ireland, and the thing is, you need to be able to drive to do this tour... But she mentioned that it would be entirely possible to go with them for the 6 days. Then stay longer, just us, and have an adventure tacked on the end, which could mean taking a hop over to London and doing all those adventurey things that would be epic. Plus we'd have a separate room in a villa etc during the tour itself, and have dad to drive us around.

I think this sounds about as good as it could get. But it's only a possibilty at this point, mom said she'll talk to dad about it, because this is a really good deal.

And the flight leaves from Boston, New York or Chicago. Mom says that we could drive down to Chicago and get to visit CTI, as dad says (Christina, Thomas, Isabella), and then head out from there.

Coach/Road Packages and IDP

2009-11-10T12:46:00.001-04:00

International Driving Permit
The problem with this one being that pretty sure you need a full license to get one of these puppies. :| Regretting my stupidity at not getting my license? Yeah, just a tad.

I asked a question on Yahoo Answers about this:
IDP with learner's permit/whatever

A question about vacation packages on SmarterTravel:

Ireland Package Deals

Adventure = No itinerary

2009-10-29T09:49:00.002-03:00

Right now, I'm really leaning on the idea of bus passes (more extensive than rail in Ireland), hostels, and an open itinerary. But the thing with an open itinerary is that you have to budget as you go. I think it would be more of an adventure to hop on a bus with just a rough idea of where we are going and doing what we feel like when we feel like it. I also don't mind "roughing it" a little and staying in dorm style hostels with random other people. Some of you might not be comfortable with that. I'm not sure. I think it would be kind of fun, and would love to meet some people and become friends etc. But I would also be okay with just hanging with you guys.

I read that the worst thing you can do is the stay in a hotel in Ireland. B&Bs are the best ways to do it. Cheaper, more authentic, family run, etc. And that they are more plentiful.

Also, I know it's early, but I think I need to mention that we really need to pack light. In the words of Aldous Huxley, "All things are necessary, some things are just more necessary than others."

We can't afford to have to lug around gigantic suitcases, we don't have a car, and we don't know where we'll be staying and if we can leave a lot of stuff where that is.

Rick Steves' England, Scotland, and Ireland playlist

2009-10-27T17:54:00.002-03:00

Just skip to the Ireland bits. We'll tackle the rest another time.

PLAYLIST

Useful Documents

2009-10-27T10:52:00.000-03:00

For Beth and I:
International Youth Travel Card

For Karyn and Patricia:
International Student Travel Card

These things should pay for themselves!

Famous Irish writers to read before going:

2009-10-25T15:59:00.011-03:00

Cultural homework:
G. B. Shaw, W. B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett, Bram Stoker, Patrick Kavanaugh, Sean O'Casey Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Brendan Behan, Thomas Moore, J. M. Synge.

I plan on reading a selection from most authors.

Notable works (orrrr more like a list of sometimes serious, sometimes odd, and sometimes goofy things relating to each writer listed above):

- "My Fair Lady" based off G. B. Shaw's Pygmalion which is based of the Galatean Myth. A fun little video on the original myth and the G. B. Shaw book: Pygmalion

- Yeats poems are available just by googling them. I'm not a poetry person, but read his one about Halloween due to the proximity to the holiday right now. Called "All Soul's Night"

- Samuel Beckett's most famous play "Waiting for Godot" is on Youtube, I've watched part of it... but understood none ;) but I did enjoy the accents. The first part is here: Waiting for Godot

- Of course: Dracula - Bram Stoker... Unless you'd rather watch famous Irish actor Liam Neeson with The Count from Sesame Street? 20, AH AH AH!

- Patrick Kavanaugh's poem "On Raglan Road" as sung by the Dubliners On Raglan Road

- Indiana Jones meets Sean O'Casey in an old TV show "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" Indy meets O'Casey

- Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift Gulliver's Travels

- The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (I really tried to find the Wayne and Shuster spoof where instead of the picture aging for him, his portrait gains weight for him... Alas, no where to be found!) BUT I DID FIND THIS! Dorian Gray Oh hey there Ben Barnes. ;)

- Ulysses by James Joyce (what is it with rewritings of Greek myths anyway?) Here's a video* of him reading a passage: Ulysse's Passage
*animation of a photograph, it's actually really creepy...

- "The Auld Triangle" a song written about Brendan Behan by his brother Dominic and performed by the Dropkick Murphys. The Auld Triangle

- The Minstrel Boy written by Thomas Moore was a song in the movie Black Hawk Down The Minstrel Boy (however, in this video, someone put the song to clips of Saving Private Ryan... so there you go)

- Riders to the Sea, a play by J. M. Synge is available in it's entirety here: Riders to the Sea or some of the opera version here: Opera!

The Writers Museum in Dublin features all of these people, and is 7.50€ BUT with our Hop on/Hop off bus tour we can get a euro off. So if we wanted to see that, it is an option. :) Dublin Writers Museum

Tours and Hostels

2009-10-24T18:47:00.006-03:00

Fairly good priced tours. These seem pretty good! Haven't checked everything though.
CIE Tours

Mom was talking about this trip to ireland you can get for $700, return flight, 6 nights stay, which is to say, two nights one place, two nights another and so on. Excellent? I think so. Tell me what y'all are think. @ Sceptre Tours

Treva: found a trip for 1500 that was London, Ireland, and Scotland. Includes flights in-between, and hotel. 3 days London, 2 days Dublin, 2 days Edinburgh. @ European Destinations

Trafalgar tours (Thanks Ryan!):

Trafalgar Tours

Hostels in Ireland:

Hostels-Ireland

Places to go and see

2009-10-24T12:05:00.010-03:00

Top Ten attractions in Ireland:
Top 10 Attractions

Dublin
MUST DO:
Dublin's HO/HO bus tour: 15euro
Dublin Sightseeing
easiest way to see everything there is to see, :)

Things not on the tour I would like to see:
- St. Valentine's Remains, Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church
-

More on where to go, what to see, what not to miss:

Yahoo Answers

Ireland Travel Guide

The second article mentions flying out of Chicago, Boston, or NY. Possible to road trip it or get another flight to one of these locations to get cheaper fares all around? And we know we have family in Chicago. :)

Lonely Planet's Europe on a Shoestring Suggested Itineraries:
Three Days: visit Dublin and Glendalough
One Week: visit Dublin, Glendalough, Kilkenny, the Burren, and Galway
Two Weeks: visit Dublin, Glendalough, Kilkenny, the Burren, Galway, Ring of Kerry, and Cork.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Message Boards

2009-10-24T00:13:00.006-03:00

What I wrote on the TravelPUNK Messageboards:

Okay, first off, I'm new here... So hi!

And now to the heart of the matter. I have just started planning a trip to the United Kingdom and Ireland. The trip is for 3-5 people. We're not sure if a few of us can go yet. And around the dates of 12-21 of March, with possible extension to that if budget and school constraints allow, depending. Also, destinations are kind of flexible as well, we don't know if money and time will allow us to go everywhere. It may end up being just Ireland. Tell me what you think, would we be able to make it to Wales, England, and Scotland? I don't want to rush through places as Europe seems best experienced at a meandering pace, but we would love to see everything.

I personally am a slightly experienced traveler, mostly through Italy, though every time before I have been accompanied by my mother. This would be my first time both planning and traveling unaccompanied. My cousins aren't as experienced as me, with only one trip to Italy under their belts and not overly savvy with international ways (not saying I'm a pro at all, just a tad better than them). We are all between the ages of 17-19, so fairly young as far as traveling alone goes. And we are all girls of a slight build, though I've been taking self-defense courses this year, for what it's worth.

The other thing is transportation and accommodation. I was thinking rail, as trains are both enjoyable and easier than anything else it seems. But I would also consider other ways of travel (cheaper, better). And what I'm looking at (BritRail + Ireland pass) is fairly expensive. We're coming from Atlantic Canada, so flights are also to be considered. As for accommodation, well, my mother doesn't like the idea of us being alone to begin with, couch surfing is definitely out, and hosteling is a viable option though not popular with my mother. Ideally we would love to stay at convents, as we are all practicing Catholic Christians and would feel safe (as well as please our mothers). I don't know if there are any convents to stay at in other places in Europe, but I've had very good experiences in Rome. Would also consider small B&Bs if the price was right.

Yeah, did I mention budget is really limited? Some of us don't have regular jobs, and we are all students, either in high school, or entering university next fall. But that's what this site is for right?

Oh and what should we see while we are there? Anything that is a must-see?

There were a few answers, mostly encouragement, no real definitive courses of action. I'll let you check them out: TravelPUNK

EDIT: Sameish question, different message boards:
Trip Advisor

Sites joined

2009-10-23T23:40:00.006-03:00

Joined the sites:

Tripadvisor
TravelPUNK
Expedia
FlightNetwork
European Destinations
discoverIreland
airWatch Dog
Travelocity
Aer Lingus
Redtag

and others I can't remember at the moment.

Books, Booking, Bouncers.

2009-10-23T23:05:00.006-03:00

Legal drinking age is 18. Bouncers are apparently really strict. But there's nothing like real Irish Guinness in the world, is there?

What are some things we would like to do whilst there, I've been doing some research, would really like to see Irish stonehenge and celtic and medieval historic sites. Castles and tombs and the like. Oh and really would be cool to see faerie circles... I know, I'm a dork, but there's this book series that was soooo good set in Ireland about Faeries. So yeah. I might make you all read it.

The Chronicles of Faerie, by O. R. Melling. Canadian-Irish author, the books focuses on Canadians and Irish interacting through different myths and stories of both cultures. It's definitely worth a read, for everyone, but especially those with connections in both countries. :)

March break dates are the 16-20.

But counting weekends, we could leave Friday 12 or Saturday 13, and get back Sunday 21. You would only miss maybe one or two days if we used the dates that way. and 12 to 21 is a fair amount of time, minus travel days we would have say 7 full days? We have to get pretty cheap accommodations and flights to keep 'er under control for this trip, especially if planning travel by rail and food and fun...

EUROTRIP

2009-10-23T22:20:00.000-03:00

And I'm not talking the cheesy horrible teen movie.

I'm talking a genuine trip. I'm talking us, the Brown Cousins, in Europe. Traveling.
This blog is for ideas. For a general outline, and for planning what could possibly be the most excellent time ever to be had.

What say you? Are you up to the challenge?

Ideas for the 5W/H's.
What: A trip to Europe for the three of us. A good time had by all.

Why: Because this is the year. This is the window of opportunity that might not open up again for us.

When: March Break/Spring. It seems to be the most convenient for all.

Where: I pretty well have my heart set on Ireland, and it makes sense seeing as we'll be there over St. Patrick's Day.

How: Through vigorous saving of monetary funds and through the collective genius of our own minds and that of our wonderful families. :) Oh and the beauty of rail passes/convents/hostels/b&b's/vacation packages.

My dad was saying he may know some people in Ireland who gave us an open invitation to stay at their cottage. And Former Premier Pat Binns is there, so we should probably go say hi to him!

Thoughts?